Management team mailbox integrating email repository and content management store services

• US 10,671,977 B2
• Filed: 04/30/2018
• Issued: 06/02/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Caldwell, Nicholas, Childs, Benjamin, Chilakamarri, Venkat Pradeep
• Primary Examiner(s): Chou, Alan S
• Application Number:
  US15/966,016
• Publication Number:
  US 20180253693A1
• Time in Patent Office: 764 Days
• Field of Search: 709207
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/42 Mailbox-related aspects, e.g. synchronisation of mailboxes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

A communication application creates a team mailbox integrating messages from an email repository and documents from a content management store (CMS). The application enables an administrator to define and manage members of the team mailbox with varying privilege status for accessing the team mailbox. Content such as aggregated messages and associated documents are displayed through a unified view to standardize ease of access. The members are enabled to receive messages sent to the team mailbox by others. Policies inherited from email repository, CMS, and/or third party policy providers are enforced within the team mailbox.

Claims

1. A method executed on a computing device to manage a collaboration service, the method comprising:

providing the collaboration service that integrates services of a message repository and a content management store to a group of users;

providing a unified view of content associated with the collaboration service to be displayed through a client interface, the content comprising messages retrieved from the message repository and documents retrieved from the content management store, wherein the messages and the documents are searchable within the collaboration service; and

upon receiving a communication addressed to a team comprising a subset of the group of users within the collaboration service, group-sending the communication to the team.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a navigation menu within the unified view, wherein the navigation menu comprises a search box and one or more navigation links.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the search box enables the messages and the documents within the collaboration service to be searched for.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more navigation links include a first navigation link to the messages, a second navigation link to the documents, and a third navigation link to a calendar comprising tasks associated with the group of users.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a membership definition pane associated with the collaboration service to be displayed through the client interface to an administrator within the group of users.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the membership definition pane enables the administrator to define one or more of:

the group of users,

one or more teams comprising one or more subsets of the group of users, and

access privileges associated with the messages and the documents for each user within the group of users or for each of the one or more teams.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the membership definition pane includes a search control to enable the administrator to search user lists of the message repository and the content management store.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

synchronizing a list of users within the group of users between the message repository and the content management store.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the synchronization comprises employment of one or more of:

a master list of user access from the message repository;

a user list from the content management store;

a multi-master system including multiple merged lists from the message repository and the content management store; and

a user list from a third party membership provider.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

integrating one or more of the documents into one or more of the messages based on a matching context of the one or more documents to the one or more messages.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

aggregating two or more of the messages into a conversation based on a matching context between the two or more of the messages.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

providing the conversation in a list of conversations within the unified view, wherein the list of the conversations is expandable to the aggregated messages and the integrated documents.

13. A computing device to manage a collaboration service, the computing device comprising:

a communication interface configured to facilitate communication among the computing device, a message repository, and a content management store;

a memory configured to store instructions; and

a processor coupled to the communication interface and the memory, wherein the processor in conjunction with the instructions is configured to;

provide the collaboration service that integrates services of the message repository and the content management store to a group of users;

provide a unified view of content associated with the collaboration service to be displayed through a client interface, the content comprising messages retrieved from the message repository and documents retrieved from the content management store, wherein the messages and the documents are searchable within the collaboration service; and

upon receiving a communication addressed to a team comprising a subset of the group of users within the collaboration service, group-send the communication to the team.

14. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to:

provide summary message information associated with each of the messages within the unified view.

15. The computing device of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to:

in response to detecting a selection of the summary message information associated with a message from the messages, providing a body of the message to be displayed within the unified view, wherein the body includes one or more of the documents integrated into the message based on a matching context of the one or more documents to the message.

16. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to launch a group instant messenger chat from within the collaboration service, wherein the group instant messenger chat includes a chat history view and an associated documents view.

17. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured to group-send the communication to the team using a modality of the communication that includes one of text messaging, video conferencing, audio conferencing, and file sharing.

18. A system to manage a collaboration service, the system comprising:

a first server associated with a message service provider configured to provide services of a message repository;

a second server associated with a content storage provider configured to provide services of a content management store; and

a third server communicatively coupled to the first server and the second server, the third server comprising;

a memory configured to store instructions; and

a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor in conjunction with the instructions is configured to;

provide the collaboration service that integrates services of the message repository and the content management store to a group of users;

provide a unified view of content associated with the collaboration service to be displayed through a client interface, the content comprising messages retrieved from the message repository and documents retrieved from the content management store, wherein the messages and the documents are searchable within the collaboration service; and

upon receiving a communication addressed to a team comprising a subset of the group of users within the collaboration service, group-send the communication to the team.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein an access to the messages and the documents is limited based on a set of retention and access policies associated with one or more of the collaboration service, the message repository, the content management store, and a third party policy provider.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to:

in response to detecting a new location of one or both of the message repository and the content management store, reestablish a connection between the collaboration service and the one or both of the message repository and the content management store.